Time to lavish unqualified praise on Willie Mullins, an unstoppable force unlike any in jump racing history
Whenever I write about Willie Mullins these days, it's nearly always because I'm fretting about the impact of his success on the wider health of jump racing. But there are times when you have to set aside such concerns and focus on making sure a great achievement gets its due recognition.
At the time of writing, I believe it is still mathematically possible for Dan Skelton to become champion trainer instead of Mullins but it doesn't feel like anyone expects that to happen. It's a bit like when football pundits say Scotland still have a mathematical chance to qualify for the knockout stage at a major tournament; the only possible response is, yeah, sure, I'll believe it when I see it.
It's overwhelmingly likely that Mullins is about to become the first jumps trainer for 70 years to win the British title from a base in Ireland. The number of people who can remember Vincent O'Brien's last title in 1954 must be getting pretty small and it obviously cannot include Mullins himself, born two years later.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
- An extra 60 seconds to run the Derby - surely premierisation should have done better than that?
- It's a sad day for racing when a big-name horse bypasses the Derby and the audience just accepts it
- Imagine a horseracing version of The Traitors - or is that just the world we already live in?
- Why my relationship with jump racing now reminds me of Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner
- Strength of your views on affordability is hidden away under Gambling Commission's diplomatic verbiage
- An extra 60 seconds to run the Derby - surely premierisation should have done better than that?
- It's a sad day for racing when a big-name horse bypasses the Derby and the audience just accepts it
- Imagine a horseracing version of The Traitors - or is that just the world we already live in?
- Why my relationship with jump racing now reminds me of Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner
- Strength of your views on affordability is hidden away under Gambling Commission's diplomatic verbiage